(Caveat: unless it is a medical issue, because there are those who desperately want to serve in the military but can’t because of medical issues, and that can be really awful to have to live with).

Maybe it’s a friend, maybe it’s a stranger who sees you in uniform, maybe it’s a random person online. Regardless, it’s a comment that we hear a lot. It seems to be going around a bit more on social media these days for some reason. And it’s infuriating.

But not for the reasons most people think.

Yes, it does feel disrespectful, as if they are basically throwing your life choice into the wind of hypotheticals and invalidating your choice to serve. Yes, it is ridiculous, because if…